


Of the Century

by opalish



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Background Helen Blackthorn/Aline Penhallow, Background Lorenzo Rey/Andrew Underhill - Freeform, Background Simon Lewis/Isabelle Lightwood, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, It turns out I have a lot of Raphael feelings whoops, M/M, Max is gonna be roped into babysitting Madzie at some point
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-03-13 14:15:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18942649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/opalish/pseuds/opalish
Summary: “What the hell is even happening?” Catarina wonders, dazed and happy and utterly stunned that somehow, they’ve all found themselves here—in this room full of Downworlders and nephilim, come together to celebrate a Shadowhunter marrying a warlock.





	Of the Century

Magnus is dancing with his new husband, murmuring quietly in Alec’s ear as they sway.

A few feet away, the Daylighter twirls the Lightwood girl, both of them laughing as she nearly crashes into Clary Fairchild and the Herondale boy. Two Shadowhunter women stand a little too close together, one of them ducking in to place a playful, lingering kiss on the other’s cheek. Lorenzo Rey smiles brightly as he flirts with a blond Shadowhunter, and the youngest Lightwood helps Madzie dab a bit of spilled juice off the hem of her dress.

Maryse Lightwood, of all people, is chatting with _Meliorn_.

“What the hell is even happening?” Catarina wonders, dazed and happy and utterly stunned that somehow, they’ve all found themselves here—in this room full of Downworlders and nephilim, come together to celebrate a Shadowhunter marrying a warlock.

Raphael laughs, and that’s incredible, too—that Raphael, sardonic, unhappy Raphael, is a human again. Can stand in the sunlight and age and one day soon make some vows of his own. Catarina hates the thought of losing him, but Raphael never did truly settle into immortality. Never quite reconciled himself to an afterlife spent cringing away from God.

He’s content, now. Catarina never thought she’d see the day.

On the dance floor, Madzie shrieks with delight as Max Lightwood patiently spins her around, neither of them caring that her scarf’s slipped down a bit, baring her gills. The two Shadowhunter women are more or less just making out, now, right where any of their repressed nephilim coworkers can see them. And Alec Lightwood trips over his own feet and laughs at himself, giddy and sweet, while Magnus grins at him, positively incandescent.

A couple of days ago, Magnus was trapped in Edom. Trapped for eternity, after months spent hollowing himself out for a bunch of ungrateful young nephilim, giving them everything he’s ever had to give. Months spent falling in love with the single worst person he could’ve chosen—a born-and-raised Shadowhunter, the Head of an Institute, Maryse and Robert Lightwood’s eldest son.

And now—and now Magnus is a married man, because those young nephilim aren’t so ungrateful after all. Because a group of Lightwoods and Downworlders banded together and burnt up a hell dimension to save her best friend. Because it turns out the single worst person Magnus could’ve fallen for loves him back in the best of all possible ways.

“Is it something in the water?” Catarina asks with a helpless smile; across the room, a small cluster of Shadowhunters clap like children as a warlock sets a flock of paper birds flapping around the ceiling. It’s an impossible moment, an impossible day—but she supposes they’ve had weeks of impossible days, now. “Something in the air? Some bizarre spell on New York?”

Magnus slides a hand around the back of his Shadowhunter’s neck, tangling his fingers through dark hair, and just for a moment, his glamour slips, eyes flashing molten gold. Alec promptly stumbles again, and Magnus throws his head back and laughs as his new husband blushes.

 _Alec likes my gills_ , she remembers Madzie saying bashfully, once. And Magnus had smiled at her and said, _He likes my eyes, too. He has_ excellent _taste, don’t you think?_

Catarina’s throat goes a little tight, because either Magnus is so happy his control’s starting to slip or he’s so happy he simply doesn’t care about keeping his mark hidden, and that’s… That’s a kind of magic, in and of itself.

“I’ve been right in the middle of everything for the past few months, and to be honest, I still don’t know what the hell is happening in this city,” Raphael tells her, looking younger than he has in _decades_ as he gazes around the room. “Every time I think I’ve figured out where we’re headed, everything changes on me.”

“Maybe it’s a chaos curse,” Catarina suggests wryly.

“Named Clary Fray? I wouldn’t bet against it,” Raphael says with a snort and a shake of his head. Catarina chuckles—she barely knows the girl, but from what she’s heard, she and Raphael might actually be onto something here.

Raphael’s smile softens a little, then, until it’s settled more in his eyes than on his lips. “But what’s happening here... Right now, to me, it looks a lot like love.”

**Author's Note:**

> catarina makes fun of raphael mercilessly for that line for the rest of his life.  
> "what flavor is that?" he asks, squinting to make out the menu.  
> "to me, it looks a lot like love."  
> and then raphael says things priests should not say.
> 
> also, as ridiculous as the timeline for this show is, i kind of love that it highlights how malec have, like, negative chill.  
> everyone else, on dating: i like you and want to spend time with you and see where things lead  
> alec lightwood, on dating: i'm in this to fucking win this


End file.
